#BlackLivesMatter
Support Black disabled activists now and always
This week I was going to post an update about DISABILITY VISIBILITY but it is completely inappropriate. As a non-Black disabled person of color it is my responsibility to re-center the conversation and attention on Black people, especially Black disabled people who have always showed up for all communities and protested against white supremacy and systemic racism. We have work to do. Below are a few places to get started. You can find additional resources and links on a recent Twitter thread of mine.
Here are a few links to work by Black disabled people, ways to support them, and a few other resources:
For starters, if you are on social media please check out the following hashtags by Black disabled women:
#DisabilityTooWhite by Vilissa Thompson (@VilissaThompson)
#DisabledBlackTalk by Tinu Abayomi-Paul (@tinu)
#DisabledPeopleforBlackLives by Imani Barbarin (@Imani_Barbarin)
#AutisticWhileBlack by Kerima Cevik (@kerima_cevik)
#BlackAutisticPride by Kayla Smith (@BeingKaylaSmith)
1) A 2016 article by Britney Wilson
#BlackDisabledLivesMatter
Why we need to talk about both race and disability when addressing police brutality.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/blackdisabledlivesmatter/
You can also check out my interview with Britney for the Disability Visibility Podcast https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2019/05/06/ep-50-disabled-lawyers/
2) By Dustin Gibson & Keri Gray:
We Can’t Breathe: The Deaf & Disabled Margin of Police Brutality Project (video and toolkit)
https://www.dustinpgibson.com/offerings/wecantbreathe
3) By Vilissa K. Thompson:
Being a Black Disabled Woman Is An Act of Defiance: Remembering #KorrynGaines
http://www.rampyourvoice.com/black-disabled-woman-act-defiance-remembering-korryngaines/
You can support Vilissa on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RampYourVoice
4) Follow and support the work of Talila A. Lewis and Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities - HEARD
HEARD created and maintains the only national database of deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind detainees & prisoners.
Check out their hashtags #DisabilitySolidarity and #DeafInPrison
5) The writing and cultural work of Leroy Moore such as his book Black Disabled Ancestors: https://www.poorpress.net/product-page/black-disabled-ancestors
And a 2015 documentary:
Where Is Hope - The Art of Murder
Police Brutality Against People With Disabilities
https://www.kanopy.com/product/where-hope-art-murder-police-brutality-aga
6) Statement on police violence by Sins Invalid from 2014:
"...our bodies and minds are not controllable and cannot always comply -- this must be understood. Our bodies and minds are not criminal. We are unique and we celebrate our complexities."
https://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/sins-invalid-statement-on-police-violence
7) Follow & support Teighlor McGee the creator of the private FB group Black Disability Collective https://www.facebook.com/groups/blackdisabilitycollective/
If you have the means support Teighlor’s labor: Venmo: Teighlor-McGee
8 ) By Morénike Giwa Onaiwu:
“It must be really nice to have the privilege of choosing not to see what is so very clear. Of not knowing this angst, this fear.”
https://morenikego.com/2020/06/01/the-silence-of-our-friends-hurts-my-ears/
9) From the Harriet Tubman Collective (2016):
Disability Solidarity: Completing the "Vision for Black Lives"
https://harriettubmancollective.tumblr.com/post/150072319030/htcvision4blacklives
10) The second edition of a disability justice primer by Patty Berne of Sins Invalid:
Skin, Tooth, and Bone: The Basis of Movement is Our People
https://www.sinsinvalid.org/disability-justice-primer
11) By Imani Barbarin (November 19, 2018)
Ableism Is the Go-To Disguise for White Supremacy. Too Many People Are Falling for It.
12) By Keah Brown (October 17, 2017):
When Will We Learn to Listen to Black Women?
https://www.damemagazine.com/2017/10/17/when-will-we-learn-listen-black-women/
13) By Heather Watkins (July 14, 2018)
To Be Disabled, Black & Proud
https://slowwalkersseemore.com/2018/07/14/to-be-disabled-black-proud/
Other resources:
1) Autistic People of Color Fund: Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color’s Interdependence, Survival, and Empowerment
*Add APOC to the donation form
https://autismandrace.com/autistic-people-of-color-fund/
2) If you have the means, donate to a community bail fund. You can find a national directory from the National Bail Fund Network
https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/nbfn-directory
3) 26 ways to be in the struggle, beyond the streets (June 2020 update)
By Ejeris Dixon, Piper Anderson, Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ro Garrido, Emi Kane, Bhavana Nancherla, Deesha Narichania, Sabelo Narasimhan, Amir Rabiyah, and Meejin Richart. Design by Alana Yu-lan Price. Accessible version adapted by Alejandra Ospina and Akemi Nishida.
3) "This is a screen-reader accessible version of Amnesty International’s Safety During Protest content, converted by Elizabeth McLain.
https://echolaliachamber.wordpress.com/2020/06/01/safety-during-protest-accessible-version/
4) "This is a screen-reader accessible version of the “26 ways to be in the struggle beyond the streets” content. This conversions was provided by Jane Berliss-Vincent."
https://echolaliachamber.wordpress.com/2020/06/01/beyond-the-streets-accessible-version/
5) “How to Be an Activist When You're Unable to Attend Protests”
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-to-be-an-activist-when-youre-unable-to-attend-protests
6) Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People, October 2018, Disability Visibility Project https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/899911